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About Us

It all started when a pair of Kestrelsailors were anxious about the future of their beloved boat and refused to let such a marvellous boat die. The decision was made to invest considerable amounts of money back into the boat in an effort to redesign the interior and to bring the boat up to present-day standards.

In February 1998 Roswell and Morrison (in particular Phil Morrison) set about the task of re-designing the Kestrelto make it appealing to both existing Kestrelsailors and new generations of sailors. All modifications were discussed at great length with the Proctor family and the KestrelClass Association and since then they have never looked back.

Since 1998 we have moved on a long way. We branched out to build the Supernovawhich is now one of the biggest fleets in the UK with well attended open meetings and is getting over 120 boats at the national championships.

In 2005 we produced our first Mk4 Ospreywhich was overhauled by Phil Morrison in the same manner as the Kestrel, to make it more appealing to the modern market yet not change too radically for it not to become accepted by the original fleet of Osprey, and this has been a storming success. The fleet is now in a growth period and it is holding its own against the newer high-performance asymmetric rivals.

In 2007, our development was to take on the Wayfarer, Wanderer and Gulldinghies from Porters. Hartley Boats is proud to be building such a stable set of boats in Derby (UK) and continue the legacy of the Ian Proctor designs.

2012 we launched the beginnings of our range of training boats, which are the most stable sailing dinghies on the market, our users have said: "they are easy to control, making them ideal for newcomers, resorts and our training centres". The H10, H12 and H12.2

2015 we completed our rota moulded training range with H15 and Alpha, with their modern unique design and build quality, these boats enable novice sailors to spend more time gliding over the water, not swimming in it!

2016 we took on the Blaze and working closely with Naval Architect Peter Hobson the Hartley Boats technical team have re-designed and developed the all-new HARTLEY BLAZE. The stunning new BLAZE sports a host of great new features to enhance this already super fast, high performance, single-handed, rack dinghy.

2017 the Derby local boat builder Hartley Boats, takes on the UK build for the Contender. We return back to Naval Architect Peter Hobson and the Hartley Boats technical team who have re-designed and developed the evolutionary Hartley Boat's contender, click here: Contenderfor more details.

With 15 boats in the Range now the Hartley Team Boats has a choice of boats second to none.

Remember we produce in Derby (UK) the most stable sailing dinghies on the market and every one of our new boats now comes with a 4-year Warranty!

Richard Hartley and Mark Hartley remain at the helm of this Derby (UK) business. They are now joined as part of the management team by Stephen Blake (sales & marketing) Sallie (Chandlery Manager) Beth Edwards (company accountant) and Julie Edwards (PA to Chairman)